There exists countdown timers that are intended for indoor kitchen use while the user is cooking or baking. For example, “egg timers” are well known with the earlier versions often having a mounted hour glass design which was turned to initiate the timing of the egg boiling. There is also known mechanical countdown timers such as that available from Lux Products Corporation of Mt. Laurel, N.J., under the registered trademark MINUTE MINDER.®. FIG. 11 of the present application illustrates a convention mechanical timer, labeled “PRIOR ART”. It is similar to the above noted timer available under the registered trademark MINUTE MINDER.®. Timer 100 is a mechanical timer that operates based on mechanical coupling between a main spring and a gear train (not shown). Tick marks 102 and numerals 104 are positioned around the perimeter of a centrally mounted knob 106 to indicate a countdown time. Clockwise rotation of knob 106 increases the set countdown time and counter-clockwise rotation reduces the set countdown time. In operation, the user of timer 100 would turn knob 106 clockwise until a desired countdown time is aligned with a marker 108 on the timer's face. Upon release, the main spring and gears turn knob 106 in the counter-clockwise direction until “0” reaches the mark 108 and a bell rings. During such operation, the user could rotate knob 106 to increase or decrease the remaining time, if desired. An additional example of a spring biased “egg timer” can be seen in DE 19904968. A further example of a mechanical countdown timer can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,783,074 which is used in association with an action toy game. The timer mechanism is a conventional timer device which is manually settable for various time periods through use of a control lever that it is rotatable around a sleeve with the outer portion of the lever traveling in the slot. The control lever is integrally formed with a downwardly extending finger and a fan gear, and it is attached to a drive spring which is operative for resiliently returning the control lever to an unwound or unset position.
There has also been introduced cooking timers that feature added electronics in place of at least some of the mechanical components such as the above described MINUTE MINDER® timer. An example is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,933,391 which is incorporated herein by reference. U.S. Pat. No. 5,933,391 features an LCD display, piezo buzzer and an electric contact/logic control circuitry with microprocessor.
In the toy field there is found examples of sound emitting means which include integrated circuit chips connected to a speaker as shown in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,886. Prior art sound emitting means include means which play back a stored sound pattern, such as a melody or a voice; the stored sound pattern being stored on magnetic tape, on an optical or magnetic disk, or electronically in a circuit.
There also exists a variety of cookware, both indoor and outdoor. These include cookware for deep frying, steaming and boiling food items. Deep frying large poultry items such as whole turkey with an outdoor cooking apparatus has gained in popularity as a way of cooking which is both quicker than baking and less susceptible to drying out the food. Outdoor cooking apparatuses often include a stock pot which is received on a gas (e.g., propane) cooker stand. In deep frying a whole turkey, a pot that is sufficiently sized to receive a whole turkey is utilized in conjunction with a sufficient level of cooking oil. To avoid exposure to the oil (e.g. splashing or actual contact), turkey securement arrangements have been developed, such as those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,896,810 and 5,813,321. A further example of a cooking system well suited for use in deep frying a turkey can be seen in the “TURF N' SURF” cooking system of Masterbuilt Manufacturing Inc. of Columbus, Ga., and reference is made to U.S. Ser. No. 10/005,311 filed Dec. 7, 2001 which is incorporated by reference herein and illustrates a cooking apparatus of Masterbuilt Manufacturing Inc.